Jess Neely
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| Sport(s) | Football, baseball |
|---|---|
| Biographical details | |
| Born |
January 4, 1898 Smyrna, Tennessee |
| Died | April 9, 1983 (aged 85) Weslaco, Texas |
| Playing career | |
| Football | |
| 1917 | Middle Tennessee State |
| 1920–1922 | Vanderbilt |
| Position(s) | Halfback |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 1924–1927 | Southwestern (TN) |
| 1928–1930 | Alabama (assistant) |
| 1931–1939 | Clemson |
| 1940–1966 | Rice |
| Baseball | |
| 1929–1930 | Alabama |
| 1932–1938 | Clemson |
| 1945, 1948 | Rice |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 1931–1939 | Clemson |
| 1940–1967 | Rice |
| 1967–1971 | Vanderbilt |
| 1973 | Vanderbilt (interim AD) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 207–176–19 (football) 109–108–5 (baseball) |
| Bowls | 4–3 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| Baseball 1 SIAA (as player, 1921) Football 2 SoCon (as player, 1921, 1922) 4 SWC (1946, 1949, 1953, 1957) |
|
| Awards | |
| Amos Alonzo Stagg Award (1967) | |
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College Football Hall of Fame Inducted in 1971 (profile) |
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Jess Claiborne Neely (January 4, 1898 – April 9, 1983) was an American football player and a baseball and football coach. He was head football coach at Southwestern University (now Rhodes College) from 1924 to 1927, at Clemson University from 1931 to 1939 and at Rice University from 1940 to 1966, compiling a career college football record of 207–176–19. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1971.
Neely was also the head baseball coach at the University of Alabama (1929–1930), at Clemson (1932–1938) and at Rice (1945 and 1948), tallying a career college baseball mark of 109–108–5.
Neely was born on January 4, 1898 in Smyrna, Tennessee to William Daniel Neely, Sr. and Mary Elizabeth Gooch. His father died of sunstroke in 1900. His brother, Bill Neely, Jr., was a captain and All-Southern end on the undefeated 1910 Vanderbilt football team. Jess attended Branham and Hughes Military Academy.
The First Fifty Years: A History of Middle Tennessee State College recounts Neely's days playing for Middle Tennessee State Normal School:
Jess Neely, a brilliant half-back and a handsome man on the campus, is remembered for his popularity among members of the opposite sex and for an incident that occurred just prior to a football game with Southern Presbyterian in Clarksville. Miles had done an exceptionally good job in mentally preparing his team for the game. He climaxed the pre-game, locker-room exhortation with a soaring call for courage and deathless allegiance to "dear Ol' Normal." Neely was greatly affected by the words of his coach for he leaped to his feet and, roaring like an angry bull, led the team in a rush to the doorway opening to the field. He misjudged the extremely low entrance, and his head received the full impact of the strip of wall above the doorway. He was revived shortly before the kickoff, but he never quite knew where he was, frequently huddling and aligning himself with the enemy.
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Wikipedia